Kimchi Series: GOCHUGARU Korean Red Pepper Powder

Korean red pepper powder (Gochugaru), a staple ingredient in Korean cooking, is used in the seasoning paste for kimchi. Blended along with ginger, garlic and fish sauce, it creates an important flavor profile that cannot be replicated by using other types of chili powders. Contrary to popular belief, gochugaru is less spicy than the tropical varieties of peppers used in Thai or Vietnamese cooking or the varieties of peppers used in Mexican dishes.

All the recipes I’ll be sharing for kimchi will call for gochugaru so let’s learn about this special seasoning and find out where to buy it.

Key Takeaways

When purchasing Gochugaru, look for a brand that has been naturally sun-dried and has only red pepper as an ingredient. I use organic gochugaru from Crazyy Korean Cooking that can be found on Amazon.

Use 1/4 cup of gochugaru in a one-quart batch of kimchi.

The Kimchi Series: Learn to Ferment Kimchi with ConfidenceThis article is part of a set of blog posts in which you learn about the key ingredients in kimchi, the various types of kimchi, ways to ferment kimchi, and make a variety of kimchis such as Daikon Radish Cube Kimchi (Kkakdugi), Napa Cabbage Kimchi (Baechu), Brussels Sprouts Kimchi, and Stuffed-Cabbage Kimchi (Poggi). Perhaps, even Instant Apple, Persimmon, and Pear Kimchi (Saqyua, Gaam, Bae).

A Fun Fact to Motivate You to Add Kimchi to Your Diet

Due to fermented ingredients—like fish sauce—in many kimchi recipes, a single variety of kimchi might contain more than one hundred different types of microorganisms. And, a single gram of that fermented kimchi contains some 100 million lactic acid bacteria. From Cultured by Katherine Harmon Courage.

What is Gochugaru?

Gochugaru, a Korean red chili pepper, is a vibrant red color and is coarse in texture. Gochugaru has a much more complex flavor than our common chili powders that can be described as spicy (just a wee bit), sweet, and slightly smoky. The actual spiciness can vary depending on the region of origin and its specific farming conditions.

Gochugaru is not quite as coarse as red pepper flakes nor it is as fine as cayenne pepper. Don’t confuse its flaky texture for actual seeds as is seen in red pepper flakes.

Gochugaru gives kimchi it’s beautiful orange-red hue. If you are wanting to make the best-tasting batch of kimchi, purchase authentic Korean red pepper powder. I originally used red pepper flakes in my Kimchi-Style Sauerkraut recipe but now recommend the real stuff. Gochugaru. In the Buying Gochugaru section below, I share shopping tips and links.

How is Gochugaru Made?

Gochugaru is made by drying Korean red chili peppers in the sun, de-seeding them, and crushing them into flakes. Taeyangcho, or peppers that have been sun-dried, are considered to make the highest quality gochugaru. Lower-quality brands use peppers that are machine dried.

In Korean, the chili peppers are most often called gochu (고추), which means “chili pepper.” The gochu peppers have a thick wall like a pimento or paprika type pepper and help to slightly thicken the red pepper paste in kimchi as well as give it that crazy cool red color. Gochu peppers are vibrant red and 4-6 inches in length. The dried peppers seen in the video above look bigger than most of the references I’ve come across.

Gochugaru can be found in both course or fine grind. The fine powder is typically used for making gochujang, or Korean chili pepper paste. The coarsely ground powder, or dried flakes, is used for making the seasoning paste for kimchi.

Heat Index for Gochugaru

Where do you think Korean red peppers are on the Scoville heat scale? You might be surprised.

To know how hot a pepper is, we need to look at Scoville heat units.

Scoville heat units – often shortened to just SHU – are simply a measurement of sugar-water. The Scoville Organoleptic Test measures chili heat by figuring out how much sugar-water is needed to be diluted into a chili pepper mash to get to the point where you no longer feel the heat at all. – PepperScale

So, if you end up with a batch of kimchi that is too hot for your palate, add some sugar to it to bring down the heat.

The crushed red pepper that I originally used in my Kimchi-Style Sauerkraut recipe has a lot more heat because it contains seeds, which are where much of a pepper’s heat is held. It is typically made from cayenne pepper and ranges from 30,000 to 50,000 Scoville heat units. Gochugaru, comparatively, is seedless when made and lower on the heat scale.

To me, gochugaru is not hot – and I don’t like hot and spicy. I have used both the Mother-in-Law's and the Crazy Korean Cooking's brands of gochugaru. I find that gochugaru imparts a long, gentle warmth to foods and does not deliver a quick, spicy hit.

Buying Gochugaru

Gochugaru is available both online or at an Asian market or upscale grocery store. With purchasing, look for vibrant red coarse pepper flakes that have been naturally sun-dried. Brownish-red color indicates oxidation. At the market, you may find different heat indicators on the various package of gochugaru. According to Maangchi at her website of authentic Korean recipes:

The spice level of these hot pepper flakes varies from mild to hot. I use less spicy flakes in many recipes, which allows me to use more and make the dish redder!

The chili peppers used for the Crazy Korean Cooking gochugaru are naturally grown using no pesticides or synthetic fertilizers. Then, the high-quality chili peppers are selected and washed with clean spring water. Next, they are naturally sun-dried and ground. The ground chili peppers are thoroughly inspected and any impurities are removed. Sun-dried chili peppers (taeyangcho) are more vibrant in color and retain more nutrients and flavor than machine-dried chili peppers.

This gochugaru by Crazy Korean Cooking has moderate heat with fruity, smoky flavors and is a crimson color.

Mother-in-Law’s signature gochugaru has moderate heat with fruity, smoky flavors and crimson color that is essential for delicious kimchi and all your dishes. According to the question section on the Amazon website, the peppers are grown in New Mexico USA.

Recipes that use Gochugaru Korean Red Pepper Powder

Upcoming in this series will be a recipe for traditional kimchi along with other ferments, all of which will call for the use of gochugaru. Gochugaru not only works great in all types of kimchi, but also in spicy soups, stews, and stir-fries. In case you can’t wait, here are a few recipes that you might enjoy.

Red Pepper Kimchi Seasoning Paste

There are many recipes for kimchi – the spicy Korean vegetable side dish. But one thing that’s common through them all: the need for a spicy chili pepper paste. This simple homemade kimchi paste is a terrific catch-all across kimchi recipes, but it can do more than that. Use it, too, as a way to spice up soups and stews. It has a delicious spicy-sweet flavor that works in many tomato-based soups. Homemade Kimchi Paste

Carrot Kimchi (Tanggun)

This kimchi seems to be very popular in Russia, at least it is often requested by Russian tourists who visit the Arirang restaurant. The carrots can also be eaten without leaving them to ferment, but of course, you’ll then get a whole different flavor. Carrot Kimchi (tanggun)

Traditionally, every Korean home made its own batch of gochujang which was mixed and then allowed to ferment for months in porous earthenware pottery called onggi, much like the Kimchi fermentation process.

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